


and we will go, and paint the stars.

by lechatnoir



Series: heliotropes and the scarlet hymns [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 21:58:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4496247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lechatnoir/pseuds/lechatnoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Jean Grey is, there are no stars.</p>
<p>Only the screams of a phoenix that tears her down and makes her forget about who she is, where she is --</p>
<p>There are four white walls, and no stars for her to see, for she has burned them all to the ground.</p>
<p>And she thinks she is alone, until Wanda Maximoff finds her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and we will go, and paint the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> also up on tumblr; you can find me there @ chrysanthemumskies!

i.

They say that to count the stars it is impossible, that to categorize and name them all is a task that humanity hasn’t achieved yet – that the universe is expanding, infinitely, indefinitely. 

She dreams of fire and has the taste of ash in her throat, dreams of demons that swirl inside of her, burning her blood from the inside out – and she thinks of the mountains and wolves, and a girl with a red ribbon in her hair. 

There is nothing but white ash and walls that surround her, and she cannot see the stars.

She can only see the fire that dances alongside her, roars inside of her head and she tries to quell it, tries to tame it to silence it – but the Phoenix Force does not listen, and tears her apart slowly.

There are no dreams, there are no stars in the sky, for Jean Grey has burned them all out, and time is not on her side.

ii.

It’s easier to forget – easier to lock up her emotions and ignore the flaming bird that laughs in her face about how it’ll get out and burn the entire world to the ground, and then just what will little Jean Grey do ? 

She grits her teeth and lashes out at it, reels it back into the confines of their joint prison and glares at it as it’s flame slowly burn out, shrinking in size until she smothers it with her hand and huffs, lying down on the ground and closing her eyes, a soft hum on her lips as she thinks of old memories that wash away the sting of just how isolated she feels. 

Well, this is certainly depressing , she thinks to herself before slowly letting sleep drag her down into the cold darkness of her mind. 

iii.

Jean Grey doesn’t dream (not anymore that is ) – she doesn’t think of the stars either.

Everything is reduced to four white walls, in a 10 by 10 foot space, with just herself and fire and life incarnate screeching at her at all times. 

She’s gotten used to the silence that permeates the white room , had grown used to white noise and static. 

(There are no dreams for a will-o-wisp, she’d think to herself.

Sometimes she wonders if she dead rather then alive, or perhaps that’s just her subconscious speaking. 

She couldn’t quite tell anymore.) 

So when Wanda Maximoff crash lands in a streak of crimson and gold, Jean doesn’t think it’s real.

There’s no way -- 

iii. 

She is chaos and blood and bones that shift and groan underneath the stress of it all, blood trickling out against the pale white walls and she dizzily thinks that this is how she dies – and she wants to laugh but her lungs hurt but Jean is here and she thinks maybe she’s not actually dead – 

It hurts to think -- hurts to breathe, hurts to do anything really, but Wanda manages to turn on her side with a groan and stare at the woman with flaming hair, a tired and bloody smile on her face as she mumbles quietly “Found you, Jean.” 

The last thing Wanda remembers is the copper taste of blood in her mouth, and the feeling as if her lungs were being stabbed by thousands of tiny needles before she blacked out.

iv.

It takes Jean Grey about 35 seconds to process that she is not alone anymore. 

It takes Jean Grey another 15 seconds to process that Wanda Maximoff is the one who found her. 

There’s a laugh that bubbles out of her throat and she doesn’t know why the waterworks happen but they do and her vision starts to blur as she cries, slowly moving her way to the woman who found her, whose dark curls framed her face in a tangled halo, blood and bruises clashing against her skin and the white wall that she was sprawled out on. 

There is a phoenix that laughs in Jean Grey’s face, yells about how she is far too weak to handle it, to harness its power. Jean just laughs and snarls at it, and with a crackling snap! It bursts into flames, ashes fluttering down and landing on Wanda’s body, healing and twisting and bringing her back from whatever abyss she was in. 

It takes Wanda Maximoff 45 seconds to come back to life, lungs gasping for air and hands digging into Jean’s arms but it’s alright -- because she found Jean – she found her and they have each other now. 

There’s a smile that works its way to Jean’s face as she leans in to brush her forehead against Wanda’s, a quiet “Hi” muttered between them, bones creaking and bodies tired but they don’t care. 

(Jean presses her lips gently to Wanda’s forehead, before moving to her cheeks and neck, and Wanda lets out a tired laugh before humming and moving to catch Jean’s lips with her own.) 

 

v.

There are no stars, not where they are. 

There are simply white walls, with no stars in sight, for Jean Grey has burned them all to simple dust – and yet, she is not alone – she is never alone, not with Wanda there with her, and so – 

They create new stars, enough to fill the white walls to the brim, enough to make the walls burst and shatter, enough for Wanda to pull Jean in close and whisper in her ear --- “Let’s go home”. 

Jean answers with a kiss, and the stars flicker in the sky.


End file.
